A World Of Rainbows
by TheCrystalLotus
Summary: When slightly insane and very optimistic Fumiko Yukimura starts school at Kaibara High, she will change the lives of the Sohma family. She understands them, but will they ever be able to understand the girl that thinks they live on a world of rainbows?
1. Chapter 1

**Crystal: Hello everyone! This is my second story for Fruits Basket! For those of you who wanted a sequel to "Cold Hearted" I am really sorry. I'm expecting to be putting out the story sometime around December or January. I know that's a long time, but I when I get story ideas, I have to write about them! And it's way to confusing for me to be writing two stories at the same time. Enjoy and please review, as it means a lot to me!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket or any of the songs used in this story, which are made by real artists.**

"Class, this is Fumiko." The teacher announced, as a girl walked into the classroom. "She will be starting this class with the rest of us, as a new student!" The girl gave a small wave to the students, giving out a wide smile.

"Look Haru!" Momiji whispered. "That's the new student! She's pretty, huh?" he commented. Haru just looked straight ahead, focusing dramatically on the new girl.

"Fumiko, why don't you tell us a little about yourself?" the teacher asked, willing the optimistic-looking girl to introduce herself.

"Hi!" The girl said suddenly, a little too fast, causing some people in the class to jump. "I'm Yukimura, Fumiko! The new student!" she giggled a little bit.

"Is she brain-damaged?" one of the boys in the class asked, but was silenced from the glare from the teacher.

"Anyways, thanks for letting me into this class! Now we can all be friends! I really like cupcakes but I can't decide between that and muffins! " she continued at a fast pace, probably being a fast speaker. "I also have a pet tarantula but don't worry! She won't bite anyone who's my friend!"

"Ok then Fumiko… Thank you…" the teacher looked nervously at her, inwardly dying from the fact that she would have to teach this possibly brain-damaged girl. "You can sit right between Hatsuharu and Momiji." She told Fumiko, pointing the empty desk right between two boys.

"Thanks!" Fumiko said, skipping slightly to her lonely chair. She quickly sat down, her dark brown (almost black) curls at the end of her hair tips jumping around with her. She started to unpack when something caught her eye.

"You have funny hair!" she whispered, a little too loud to Haru, exciting. Haru was about to make a snarky comment back when she spoke again. "I like it! I don't have anybody with white hair in my family!"

Haru gave a small smile. Maybe this girl was all right.

-later-

Fumiko skipped freely down the long hallway to her locker. She wanted to put her books away as fast as possible, so that she could get to lunch. She turned the corner when she collided into someone and they both fell to the ground. Fumiko looked up to find a girl who only looked a year older than her, staring back at her.

"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry!" the girl repeated over and over again, trying to pick up Fumiko's books but dropping them once again in panic.

"It's ok!" Fumiko said, while giggling at the older girl's antics. The older girl stopped what she was doing and looked at Fumiko in confusion. "What's your name?" Fumiko asked suddenly.

"Honda, Tohru!" the girl said, beaming back.

"Hi Tohru!" Fumiko cheered, as she picked up her books, holding them tightly to her chest. "I'm Yukimura, Fumiko! Let's be best friends ok?" she asked, smiling widely.

"Wha…?" Tohru asked, confused to why this girl would want to be her best friend suddenly, even if she didn't know her very well. Suddenly, Tohru got an idea. "Why don't you come to lunch with me! I'll introduce you to my friends!" Tohru exclaimed, grabbing hold of the Fumiko's hand.

"YAY! MORE PEOPLE!" The Fumiko yelled, dragging Tohru to the lunchroom, instead of the opposite. Tohru just followed limply, being dragged at twenty miles per hour. When they finally got to the lunchroom, Fumiko let go of Tohru's hand, somehow managing to snag her bento box on the way.

Tohru led the girl through the lunchroom, and finally stopping at a table. Fumiko observed that there was an orange haired boy and a purple haired boy. There were also the white and blonde haired boys that she sat next to for class. There were two girls as well, one with tan colored hair and the other with the same colored hair as Fumiko's.

"Hi everyone!" Tohru announced, causing everyone at the table to look up at her. "This is my new friend, Fumiko!" Tohru announced once more, plopping down in an empty seat next to the tan haired girl. Fumiko sat down suddenly, next to Tohru, as she wasn't sure if she was allowed to be there and sitting next to Tohru was the safest bet if she was going to get kicked out.

"Hi!" Fumiko cheered happily.

"Fumiko, this is Yuki, Kyo, Arisa Uotani, Saki Hanajima, Hatsuharu and Momiji!" Tohru explained, pointing at each person when she spoke their designated name.

"That's good!" Fumiko responded, opening her lunch box. There were a few odd looks around the table at her response, but Fumiko didn't seem to mind. She started to hum a song as she dug pulled out a cupcake with purple frosting on it.

"The dinosaur goes pop, the lollipop goes rawr. Now everybody's happy that they can sing along. Lalalala."

"What kind of song is that?" Kyo asked, becoming annoyed at the random song. "And why do you only have a cupcake for lunch. Kyo surveyed the girl up and down. She was surprisingly skinnier than Tohru, even if she did always eat cupcakes.

"The song is called "Rainbow"!" the girl responded happily. "I made it up!" She gave no answer however for why she only had a cupcake.

"Obviously…" Kyo responded, earning a glare from the damn rat.

"So Fumiko…" Yuki tried to start a conversation. "Do you have any pets?"

"Yup!" she said. "I have a pet tarantula! Her name is Fuzzy!" Fumiko answered, taking a big chunk out of her cupcake as soon as she was finished. As soon as she said the word tarantula, a shiver went up Yuki's spine.

"Intresting…" Saki commented, being the only one at the table to think so.

"I know right?" the girl commented. "And then the flamboyant rainbow helped us all!" Everyone deadpanned.

"What exactly are you talking about Fumi-chan?" Momiji asked, already using a term of friendship.

"The flamboyant rainbow!" Fumiko said, raising her eyebrow in complete seriousness.

"Since when were we talking about flamboyant rainbows?" Uo asked. "And what are flamboyant rainbows?"

Fumiko suddenly slammed her cupcake down on the table and stared Uo down, a dead serious look in her eyes. "Flamboyant rainbows are rainbows that are not straight. And we were talking about them because it helped us." Fumiko spoke with such a serious tone in her voice that Tohru scooted away from her. "If I have to explain that again, I will get the unicorn to attack you. Do I make myself clear?"

Uo just stared at the girl for a minute. Then she started laughing her head off, bowing down to ease her stomach. Fumiko started laughing hysterically too.

"What's going on?" Haru asked, completely confused, as was the rest of the table, with an exception of Uo and Fumiko.

"She's great!" Uo said between chuckles, the laughter having died down. "Any girl that can stare me down like that is welcome in my group!" she commented, giving Fumiko a warm smile.

"We have to go." Hana-chan commented, looking at the clock on the nearby wall. "It was most interesting meeting you Fumiko. I hope we meet again." Hana-chan got up with Uo and they both walked away.

"Oh! That reminds me Sohma-kun!" Tohru said to Yuki, before the rest of them got up. "Can Fumiko come over after school today? Please?" Tohru begged. Yuki and Kyo exchanged nervous glances at each other.

"Well, I suppose it would be ok, if Miss Yukimura wanted to…" Yuki trailed off.

"Would I ever!" Fumiko exclaimed. "Let's do it!

"We'll come too!" Momiji added in, without Haru's consent.

So that's how Fumiko ended up walking home with her new best friend and four boys who's secret she didn't know about yet.


	2. Chapter 2

**Crystal: Hi! This is the second chapter for A World Of Rainbows! Please, even if you don't have time to log in, try to review as a guest and tell me how I'm doing! Opinions of the readers count a lot to me and it really boosts my spirit when someone compliments me! Thanks!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket or any of the songs used in this story, which are made by real artists.**

Fumiko, Tohru and the Sohma clan finally made it to the small wooden cabin in the middle of the woods. "This is a strange place to live!" Fumiko commented. "But I like it!" She jumped right onto the porch, not bothering to use the steps. "Let's go!" she said, bouncing on the balls of her feet with excitement. "You're supposed to be leading me! Not the opposite!"

They all made there way into the house, stopping to take off their footwear in front of the door. "Wow!" Fumio whispered. "It's like a whole world of rainbows mixed with marshmallows and smores, with a cherry on the top!" Nobody was really sure what that meant, but it had to be a good thing.

"Yay!" Fumiko gave one last big jump, but ended up colliding with Tohru and falling onto Haru and Momiji while Tohru lost her balance and fell on Kyo and Yuki. There were four big puffs of smoke, and an ox, rat, cat and rabbit appeared in front of Fumiko and Tohru.

"Uh.. Uh! I guess they all had to use the restroom?" Tohru tried to cover up what Fumiko had just seen. But failed miserably. Fumiko just stared ahead, her face void of all emotions. Finally, Tohru noticed. "Fumi-chan?" she asked, worried about Fumiko.

Finally Fumiko spoke. "Awesome."

"W…What?" Tohru asked, confused at what Fumiko had said.

"That is awesome!" She squealed, snapping out of her trance and moving to hug Kyo. "I wish I had that kinda power! Then I could communicate with the unicorn and the narwhal!" She was squeezing onto Kyo so tight as she spoke, that he couldn't breath.

"Let…Go…" Kyo managed to puff out before Fumiko finally let him go, giving him the opportunity to jump away.

"So how does this work?" Fumiko asked, jumping up suddenly and bouncing on her heels.

"Fumiko?" Yuki asked, trying to explain. "Haru's the Ox, Momiji's the rabbit, Kyo's the cat, and I'm the rat." Fumiko noticed how Yuki spoke Kyo's name with venom. "Our family has lived with this curse for generations. We transform into the twelve animals of the Chinese Zodiac." Kyo turned around once he realized that Yuki didn't include him. "Don't expect me to include you, stupid cat." He spoke with fury. "Anyway… whenever our bodies come under a great deal of stress, or when we're hugged by a member of the opposite sex, we transform. After a little while we change back. The only thing is, uh…"

There were suddenly four big poofs in the hallway again. "we're naked." Tohru yelled, while closing her eyes, and Fumiko ran into the next room, covering her eyes as she ran.

"Tohru, Yuki, Kyo. I heard commotion in the hallway." A voice spoke. A man that looked to be in his late 20's came out a room next to the hallway. "Is everything all… Oh."

* * *

Fumiko sat at the table with Yuki and Tohru. "I will have to tell Akito about this." Shigure (he introduced himself to Fumiko earlier) said, as he rested is elbow on the table.

"Akito Sohma?" Fumiko asked, questioning in her eyes, but maintaining a smile. Shigure looked up.

"You know him?" Shigure asked, as everybody turned their heads over to her.

"Narwhals are awesome!" Fumiko said suddenly, causing everyone to deadpan. "Anyways, that's all cool with me! I promise I won't tell a soul, but I really have to go now!"

"Awww why Fumi-chan?" Momiji asked, whining like a kid.

"Oh, I have a part-time job that I need to get to!" Fumiko explained like it was nothing. "I work at a local dump and it pays pretty well, so I can't be late!" she stood up. "Well, see you later!" she walked out the door, making sure to shut it gently behind her.

As soon as Fumiko was out of sight from the house, she ran down a small hill, down to a brook and past a few huge rocks. There lay a small green tent sprinkled with water, from that early morning's rain. She crawled inside the tent, making sure to zip it behind her.

In front of her, sat a picture of an older looking girl, with many features akin to Fumiko's. "Hi onii-san." Fumiko said. "They nearly caught me with information I wasn't supposed to speak of to anyone. But that's ok because everything is ok now! I'm going to go freshen up before I head to the dump! Bye now!" As Fumiko exited the tent, she bumped into a pair of legs.

She looked up to find Haru and Momiji looking back at her with question.

"Oops!" she said.

* * *

"You've been there all by yourself Fumi-chan?" Momiji asked, worry lacing his tone. Fumio nodded.

"Yup!"

"So you don't have any other family members you can stay with?" Kyo asked, becoming annoyed at the fact that another girl might have to yet stay with them.

"Nope! It's just me!"

"Why?" Haru put it bluntly. Fumiko looked down.

"I was born as a sickly child. My parents couldn't deal with it so they left me. But my older sister wouldn't give up on me and refused to leave with them. Both my parents were single children and both their parents are dead, so it was just me and sissy. But then she…" Fumiko paused, still looking down at the ground. "I was left all alone with no money and no support. So I got myself a local job and decided to live here." She spoke again, never mentioning the events that took place with her sister.

"But that's ok! I still have the rainbows!" Shigure walked out of the hallway.

"Well that's that. I called Akito and he said it would be fine to let you live here, but you have to swear to keep our family secret."

"Totally!" Fumiko bounced back to being her normal, cheery self. "I promise I'll never tell a soul! I'll even take my secret to the grave!"

"Well it's good to know that our secret is in good hands." Shigure said, smiling a little. "Tohru? Can I have some food?"

* * *

"You can sleep in my room for now Fumi-chan!" Tohru told me as we walked into her room.

"Thanks Tohru! You're awesome!" she spoke as she hugged Tohru, then was left alone in the pink room.

Fumiko took a seat on the bed, looking down at the floor and her eyes glazing over. "Onii-san…" she spoke, tears forming in her eyes.

She still remembered how she had never told her older sister that she loved her. How much she cherished her. And she never came home…

Fumiko wiped her eyes of all evidence that she had been crying and hopped off the bed, proceeding to go downstairs for dinner.


	3. Chapter 3

**Crystal: Yay! Another chapter of A World Of Rainbows! I must say, this is one of the toughest fanfics I've worked on because of Fumiko's personality… But I will try to the best of my ability! This is kinda an emotional chapter. Thanks and please review!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket or any of the songs used in this story, which are made by real artists.**

Fumiko had lived at Shigure's house for a few months now, event coming and going. Haru and Momiji decided that they would stay during Spring Break.

So that early spring morning, Fumiko woke up, only to sigh. She showered, changed into a black dress with a black veil, and put on a tiny amount of makeup. Walking down, everyone stopped to stare at her. "Hi guys." She said, taking at seat at the table where her breakfast was waiting for her.

As everyone was eating, Fumiko spoke. "Shigure, I hope it's ok if I step out for a little bit today." Shigure frowned. Fumiko wasn't usually this serious. And the black?

"Sure, sure!" he said. "I have to do some editing to my next book, so I won't see you off, but have a fun time!" He responded, waving his hand up and down.

"Where exactly are you going?" Kyo asked, annoyed the she wasn't telling them anything.

"Well…" Fumiko started. "Today is the anniversary of my sisters death. Tomorrow's also the date when my parents left so I was planning on visiting the gravesite, for both days."

"Yo." Fumiko turned around. "Can I come too?" asked Haru.

"Me too!" Momiji said, bouncing up. "I don't want Fumi-chan to be all alone!"

"I'll come too!" Tohru suggested. Yuki and Kyo just looked at Fumiko, implying that they wanted to come to the gravesite too.

"Sure." She sighed as she got on her shoes. "Everyone can come." They all got ready while Fumiko waited and finally, they were all walking in the early morning heat to a graveyard.

When they finally got there, Fumiko lead them all to the gravesite. She stopped at a old looking, cracked one. "I'm sorry onii-chan." She said, her voice cracking. "I didn't have enough to get you a proper gravestone. I tried really hard, I swear, but this was all I could make up. And I spent most of the money on insurance…. So I'll just get you cleaned up. As you always said… This is the best I can do for now, but I'll do better someday."

Fumiko slowly took the washcloth from her basket and poured some water on it, getting ready to sponge bath the gravestone. Everyone watched in silence as she did so, not wanting to make a word. After she was finished, she spoke again.

"Onii-chan, these are my new friends." Fumiko pointed to the group beside her. "They are taking care of me now! And I'm doing really well! I promise I'll have enough money, like you wanted me to, to get started! Nothing will get between that!" Fumiko spent a few more minutes praying in front of the gravestone, taking special note to join her hands together and close her eyes.

"Let's go." Fumiko said, standing up. Her lips were tightly pursed and her eyes held the grievances of a thousand dead men. As the group was walking out of the temple Fumiko said "Thanks for coming today guys! You really didn't have to!"

"It was no problem Miss Yukimura." Yuki commented. "I for one, was happy to meet your sister."

"Yeah." Kyo replied. "Besides, I guess we all wanted to meet her."

"Yes!" Tohru commented, hugging Fumiko. "You loved your sister so much! She would have been happy to see us!" Fumiko looked up at the sky.

"Who wants cupcakes when we go home?!" she yelled suddenly, giving a high jump.

"Gahhh!" Kyo yelled in frustration. "Why with the cupcakes! Why always the cupcakes! Ever since you got here, dessert has been nothing but cupcakes! I'm sick of it!"

Fumiko just giggled. "Do you guys just want to meet my pet tarantula instead?" she asked in all seriousness, despite her giggling.

"Ok fine! Let's go get cupcakes!" Kyo yelled suddenly, speeding off at the mention of a tarantula. Fumiko and the rest of the group just laughed.

* * *

Fumiko was walking in the hallway, looking down at her feet. It was a common game for her, where she would look down on the wood panels on the floor and try to avoid the cracks with her feet. Her eyes were crossed and her eyebrows where scrunched up, as well as her forehead, in a very concentrated mode.

Fumiko suddenly bumped into a hard object and felt herself fall on the hard wooden floor, as she closed her eyes. "Oof!" she said, as the object and her fell down. After a few moments, Fumiko opened her eyes to find Haru staring into hers. His hands were on either side of her and was holding himself up, and keeping himself from crushing her.

"I'm really sorry!" she said. "I didn't watch were I was going because of the cracks on the floor and-" she was cut off.

"It's fine, don't worry about it." Haru said. "Are you ok?"

"Yup! Fine!" Fumiko smiled back, flashing her teeth. Haru just stared back. After one more minute of that, Fumiko started to get worried.

"Umm… Haru?" she asked. "Can you get off of me?" Haru blinked once, and then hauled himself up. Fumiko got up to. Haru's gaze didn't waver.

"Hey! This would be a good time to show you Doku!" Fumiko suddenly, pointing her finger upwards and grabbing Haru by the arm. She dragged him to her room, without any protesting surprisingly. She brought him to a shelf on her room, with a glass cage. Haru peered inside, and saw the tarantula.

"How'd you get him?" Haru asked, poking at the glass. Fumiko giggled.

"I was in the suburbs of Tokyo, with my sister, window shopping, and I saw the tarantula. I really wanted it, so my sister gathered up the money and bought it for me. It's one of the only memories of her I have left." Fumiko explained, sighing and sitting down on the recently new bed that had been placed in Tohru's room.

"That's cool." Haru sat down next to her. "How did your sister… you know?" Haru asked gently, sensing it was a sensitive topic for her.

Fumiko looked as if she was about to speak but then quickly shut her mouth. She tried again, this time tears coming to her eyes. "I'm… I'm sorry." She said, bowing her head in embarrassment. "Maybe…maybe one day I can talk about it but…but for now, I…I just want to keep it private." _"It was all my fault…" _she thought in her mind, blinking back yet another wave of fresh tears.

"It's fine." Haru said, waving it away. "I understand." Fumiko looked up at him in surprise, but then smiled in relief.

"Thanks Haru." She said, standing up. When they both reached the door Fumiko spoke once again. "Well, I think I'll hit the sack!" She spoke once cheerfully again.

"_How could she be so happy?" _he wondered to himself.

"As they say, the unicorn doesn't get to the tree before the rainbow!" Haru had no idea what that meant. "Well, goodnight Haru!" she shut the door, leaving Haru alone in the hallway.

She slid down the door on her back, closing her eyes tightly shut and burying her face in her sweater. _"Why Onii-chan?" _she wondered to herself as tears slowly leaked out of her eyes. _"Why am so weak? Why can't I deal with a person's death like Tohru does? She doesn't cry about her Mom all the time! So what makes me different?"_

Fumiko pondered the question for a few minutes, staying in her current position. _"Well I don't know Onii-chan. Perhaps my facade? But then, how long can I keep it up. Will I still be able to be smiling in the future?" _


	4. Chapter 4

**Crystal: The fourth chapter! This story is the first to head in a direction that I was planning on! Thanks for all the support and please continue to support this story!**

**Disclaimer: Look at the first chapter.**

"I need some fresh air!" Fumiko shouted. "The leprechauns are suffocating me! There's too much gold!"

"There are no leprechauns!" Kyo shouted, already annoyed that Fumiko had decided to bake a fresh batch of cupcakes with _pink_ frosting that morning. "And I don't see any gold here!"

"Of course there is!" Fumiko shouted back, sticking out her tongue. "God Kyo, are you delusional or something?" she asked.

"Hey! I'm not the delusional one here!"

"Anyways." Fumiko turned around, deciding to ignore Kyo. "I'm going for a walk! Does anyone want to come with me?" Fumiko asked.

"I'll go." Haru said suddenly, standing.

"Great!" Fumiko said, cheering. "Let's go!" Fumiko skipped outside, smelling the fresh morning air. Haru followed in her wake.

The two had been walking for a while. Fumiko had stopped skipping and had started to walk normally. Faces and shops passed as Fumiko and Haru stayed silent, drinking in the morning air and feeling the sun on their faces.

But the good weather didn't last, as it started raining. Fumiko didn't have her umbrella with her so she said: "How 'bout we turn back?" Haru nodded. Suddenly, his phone started to ring.

"Hello?" Haru asked. "Oh. That can't be good. Yes, I'll look around. Bye Mrs. Sohma." Haru put his phone back in his pocket.

"What happened?" Fumiko asked, her voice laced with worry.

"My cousin, Kisa Sohma just ran away from home." Haru said frowning and picking up the pace of their walking speed. Fumiko put her hands over her mouth in shock. "Her mother just asked me to look for her."

"I'll come with you!" Fumiko declared suddenly. "Let's go!" Fumiko took Haru by the hand and started running through the pouring rain. Haru smiled slightly, despite his worry.

"Thanks…" he whispered, loudly but not loudly enough for Fumiko to hear through the sound of the rain.

"KISA!" Fumiko shouted, the name still unfamiliar on her tongue. "COME OUT KISA!" she shouted again. Suddenly, Haru moved in front of Fumiko, running towards a bush and sticking his head inside. Then he came back out, but with a tiny tiger in his arms. He quickly took off his coat, draping it over the tiger.

"Fumiko." He said. "This is Kisa Sohma. The tiger of the zodiac." Fumiko gasped.

"Kisa?" she whispered, as she got closer to the bundle in Haru's arms. "Kisa?" she tried again, still not getting a response out of the tiger.

"She doesn't speak." Haru said suddenly, making Fumiko look up at him in surprise. "She was bullied and now she's keeping her voice bottled away." Fumiko placed a gentle hand on the bundle, feeling it shift to the side. She felt tears come to her eyes, because of what had happened to the poor tiger.

"Let's go." Fumiko said, starting to run with Haru right beside her as the rain pelted down. She didn't need to get wetter than she already was. They both came towards a street and as they were running down it, Fumiko spotted Yuki and Tohru. "Yuki! Tohru!" Fumiko shouted. They both turned their heads towards Haru and her in surprise.

"Fumi-chan! Hatsuharu-san!" Tohru shouted, running towards the two.

"What are you guys doing here, in all this rain?" Haru asked, surprised but keeping a blank face.

"That's what I should ask of you!" Yuki said, walking out into the rain besides Tohru. Tohru began wiping off Haru's face. Fumiko pouted slightly, annoyed that she was getting drenched. "You're soaking wet, you know!" Yuki commented towards the two of us. "By any chance Haru, have you gotten yourself lost again?"

"No." Fumiko replied, annoyed. "We were looking for something!"

"Looking for something?" Yuki asked again in surprise.

"We were looking… for her." Haru suddenly pulled his coat of the top of Kisa's head.

"Ahh!" Tohru shouted. "She's such a cute kitty-san!"

"Tohru-chan." Fumiko told her. "She's a tiger. This is Sohma, Kisa." Tohru started to go crazy over the fact that Kisa was so cute.

Tohru stuck her hand out to Kisa. "Pleased to meet you! Um, my name is Honda, Tohru!" Tohru was about to say more when Kisa suddenly bit her on the hand. Tohru screamed in pain and fell to the floor.

"Tohru-chan!" Fumiko ran over to her, supporting her up and taking a look at her hand. It was bleeding.

* * *

"Goodness!" Shigure commented, as usual being dramatic. "Tohru! You've been bitten!"

"Y-yes…" Tohru managed to gasp out, while Haru was bandaging up her once bleeding hand. Fumiko was wrapped in a blanket sneezing her head off.

"AHH-CHOO!" She squeaked, rubbing the bottom of her nose with her pointer finger. The whole group found it quite amusing, but Kisa was more important in this situation.

"Kisa!" Yuki shouted. "You apologize to her!" Kisa just turned around, being impassive. "Kisa!" Yuki shouted once more.

Tohru tried to calm Yuki down. "Um, I'm fine, so…"

"Yuki-kun." Shigure spoke. "'Sa-chan doesn't speak."

"She doesn't speak." Agreed Haru. "Not since shortly after she entered middle school. Not a word." Tohru gasped. "From what Brother 'Tori says, the problem is in her mind. He said she was keeping her words locked away. And, once she stopped talking, she stopped going to school. And finally, today… she didn't come home. That's why Fumiko and I went looking for her. When I found her, she had turned into a tiger. " Fumiko looked like she was going to cry, and Yuki and Tohru looked shocked. Haru just remained impassive, but he was upset too.

"So… what made things turn out… the way they did?" Yuki asked.

"She was picked on." Suddenly, Kisa ran towards Haru and bit him on the arm. "That hurts!" Haru exclaimed, narrowing his eyes. "What? Are you angry? Are you telling me to mind my own business? Don't be ridiculous! Just how concerned do you think I was? Your mother is looking for you around there right now!" Kisa finally let go, and ran outside to the back yard. Fumiko stood up, with her blanket still around her shoulders. Her face was serious as she moved to the backyard.

Fumiko could hear Tohru shouting. "Hatsuharu! You're bleeding! Kisa-san has gone missing! Where's the styptic stick?" Fumiko ignored it and ran outside.

"KISA!" Fumiko yelled. "Ahh-choo! KISA!" she shouted even louder this time. Finally, Fumiko spotted an orange bundle next to the bush in the back yard. Fumiko plopped down next to it and said: "Kisa-san! So this is where you are!" Kisa whirled around to bite Fumiko, but she just moved her hand away quickly. They sat there for a minute, looking into each other's eyes.

Suddenly, a figure kneeled down right next to Kisa and Fumiko. "Kisa… It's your mother." Fumiko turned her head to the side, to see Kisa's mother properly. "Tell me…what are you doing? What are you doing, causing nothing but trouble to those around you? What are you thinking? Do you enjoy putting your mother out?"

Fumiko eyes suddenly widened at that last comment. How could a mother say that to her own child? Parents had a job to love the kid needlessly! Not hurt them!

"Tell me. Why didn't you say you were being picked on? Why would you leave home? Why wouldn't you say anything? I'm tired of this… I've had it."

"Excuse me?" Fumiko suddenly interrupted. "Might it be that she couldn't tell you? That maybe she thought, "what would Mother think if she knew?" and she became nervous and scared. And she didn't want anyone to know that about her. So desperately, she put up a brave front, and tried to hide it but then she became more ashamed of herself and embarrassed and thought to herself for a long time that maybe she would be hated by her mother if her mother knew that she was being picked on. And thinking that… could it be that she wasn't able to tell you?" Fumiko gave out a sigh, tears pricking at her eyes, but continued to speak.

"I may not have a mother Kisa, and I may not know you that well. But I know enough to see that your mother loves you. And even though I've only known you for a day, I love you too. Because Kisa is special. Kisa is Kisa and no amount of bullying will ever change that. I used to be bullied too. And I never told anyone, not my big sister… not anyone." Tears started to leak out of Fumiko's eyes. "But now I know, that not telling anyone, kills you inside. So from now on Kisa, weather you speak or not, you can always come to me. I'll make sure those kids don't bully you anymore. I care Kisa. And I will never, ever turn against you. It's a promise."

Suddenly, there was a big poof, and there, leaning on Fumiko, was a sobbing Kisa. Tears continued to leak out of Fumiko's eyes, but she just took off her sweater and put it over Kisa. As soon as she got up, Kisa did as well and started sobbing on Fumiko's shirt.

"_I won't leave you… ever." _


	5. Chapter 5

**Crystal: I'm so sorry for not updating! I lost my flash drive that contains all my stories, and I can't find it! It's probably in my dump of a room somewhere… Anyways, I decided to recover all my stories from various places and finally put them together, and was able to continue the story!**

**Thanks for all the reviews! Please keep it up!**

**Disclaimer: Look at the First Chapter.**

* * *

"God…" Fumiko whispered at she slumped against her once open door. She had just had another outburst of things that didn't make sense. _"Why can't I be like normal kids? Without any problems or... anything else." _

Slowly, Fumiko stood up and made her way to the cabinet that sat next to her bed. She opening the drawer, and took out a pill from a bottle, swallowing it. _"I promised myself I wouldn't, but what will the other's think of me if I do this again? Besides, the doctor said it was ok, didn't he?"_

"_Or maybe it just isn't good for me."_

* * *

"Haru!" Fumiko called. "Do you want to go for a walk with me?" Haru appeared from the next room and nodded his head. "Ok then!" she said, jumping. "Let's go!"

The rain was becoming less by the second, and Fumiko was glad, because she didn't want to catch a cold like the last time. Kyo kept teasing her all the time, and she had to punch him a few times, which of course started a huge fight, because even though her punches didn't hurt, he was mad that she had tried to punch him in the first place.

Fumiko sighed, just thinking about it. That was definitely something she didn't want to repeat again. A voice interrupted her thoughts. "Something wrong?" Fumiko looked up to find Haru staring at her.

"Nothing!" she replied, plastering a smile on her face.

"You're a terrible liar, you know that right?" Haru said and stopped walking, which caused Fumiko to stop walking too. Haru touched her chin, and brought it up, forcing her to look at him.

Fumiko's heart was thumping and her head was throbbing. The two remained silent, looking into each other's eyes. The two slowly moved closer and closer until…

THUMP!

A shoe hit Fumiko on the head! Startled, she moved back, looking wildly from side to side until her eyes rested on a boy sitting on a ledge in front of her.

"Hey!" The boy said. "Pick that up."

"Ok!" Fumiko said, completely oblivious as to what was going to happen. Haru just watched the boy silently. She picked it up and handed it to the boy. He smiled once, then started to yell.

"Why did you actually pick it up? You moron!" he reprimanded.

"Uh…" Fumiko blanked.

"Don't you have anything like an IDENTITY, or a POLICY?" The boy continued on. "If I tell you to roll, are you actually gonna roll?" Tears started to form in Fumiko's eyes.

"Hiro…" Haru warned with a slightly edgy tone. The boy just continued.

"If I tell you to fly up to the sky, are you actually gonna fly? How awful, some people just don't have any independence. Hey you! If you picked it up, hurry and give it back! Or what, you gonna steal it?" Fumiko just handed to shoe to the boy silently.

"Hey!" the boy said once again. "Can't you even say a word of gratitude when I came all this way to meet you? When someone says he came all this way to meet someone like you, can't you guess?"

Fumiko blanked for a minute before responding quietly. "You're the goat of the Chinese zodiac."

"Too slow, you stupid girl." Tears started to yet again, form at the corner of Fumiko's eyes. Haru moved closer to Fumiko.

"Hiro, if you don't stop…" He warned, now getting really upset.

"Honestly, you don't look as great as the rumor says." The boy said, while putting his shoe back on. "I was somewhat expecting a more amazing girl, but you're just about average in everything. Ahh, I fell so stupid, I-" The boy was cut of by Fumiko.

"Well you should feel stupid." She said, snapping. Haru was taken aback. Fumiko wasn't usually the type to get that mad. "And you don't look as great as you should either!" she shot back, enraging the boy further. "You're a horrible person."

"Boo-hoo, cry me a river." The boy said, obviously annoyed. Fumiko silently dug into the coat pocket of her coat and pulled out a rock. With a mighty swing, she threw the rock at the boy."

"Ow!" The boy said. "So now you're stoning me? I would expect you to be a gracious host, not throw rocks at people." Fumiko just threw another rock in response. "Why do you even keep rocks in your pocket?"

"So I can stone people like you." She said icily. Suddenly, Hiro yanked Fumiko's bag out of her other hand, and started to dig through it.

"Give that back." Haru suddenly objected, making a swipe for the bag and grabbing it back, but not before the boy (Fumiko thought his name was Hiro from Haru saying it so much) reached in the bag for a gold locket.

"N-no that's!" Fumiko tried to interject. "T-the streamers will throw you down a dark pit of-" Fumiko cut herself off again. _"Not again. I can't flip again." _

"Weird girl." Hiro said. "I'm Sohma Hiro. I doubt I'll ever see you again, but I'll tell you my name anyway. Bye! Thank you for letting me have such a terribly boring time!"

"Wait!" Fumiko started to run after the boy, but suddenly he vanished out of sight. Tears started to well up in Fumiko's eyes. She felt a warm hand on her shoulder.

"We'll get him." Haru said. Before he could say more, Fumiko ripped her shoulder away and started running down the street.

"_How… How could he?" _she thought to herself. _"My locket from my Onii-chan was just stolen and yet, he did nothing about it! Whose side is he on! And I don't want to be the one who's all serious and ruins the mood, but really, can I trust him?! He seems to have a hard enough time trying to decide whom to help!_

* * *

Fumiko panted and wheezed as she finally found herself next to a small park. She peeked around the corner to find that Kyo was shouting at Hiro. "Why you arrogant little kid… Damn troublemaking brat!" He shouted.

"Kyo!" Fumiko shouted, getting both Hiro and his attention. Suddenly, she reached into her pocket and started to stone Hiro again.

"Ouch!" Hiro said for the second time that day. "Where the heck do you keep getting those stones from!" he shouted. "And how did you find me!" Suddenly, Fumiko took out a handful of rocks, and was about to chuck them at when she felt someone restraining her arm from behind. She whipped around to find Haru staring at her with a blank expression. Gosh, she needed to learn some form of martial arts, because it wasn't even any problem for Haru to hold her without letting go but she couldn't get out!

"Hiro, what did you do!" Kyo yelled at Hiro.

"Hah?" Hiro said. "What is this? Are you accusing me of something? What if I'm innocent, how are you gonna apologize? I only took her locket!"

"You idiot!" Kyo said. "Give it back!" All the while, Fumiko struggled to get her arm free and pelt Hiro with the rocks.

"Let go of me!" Fumiko hissed. Usually, Fumiko could never be seething with anger like she was now.

"No." Haru replied, smirking.

"This is not a game Haru!" she half-yelled. "That locket is important to me! And that mean kid needs to pay for what he did!"

Suddenly a tiny voice was heard. "Hiro-chan?" It was Kisa, right around the corner. Fumiko stopped struggling. "Onee-chan's thing... Did you take it?" Right next to Kisa, was Momiji.

"Ah… I see." Hiro said. "So it was all the Rabbit's doing."

"Byaah!" Momiji responded, while sticking out his tongue and closing one eye.  
Kisa told me all about Hiro's spots!"

"Hiro-chan, you have to give it back…" Kisa quietly reprimanded. "Don't cause trouble for Onee-chan, you shouldn't…"

"This is stupid…" Hiro started to mutter. "I don't need anything like this, anyway!" he yelled and threw the locket.

Everything seemed to happen in slow motion for Fumiko. She saw the locket flying through the air. She slowly reached out for it, but because Haru was holding her hand, she couldn't move farther. Then the locket started to come down, it's jewels glinting in mid-air. Fumiko reached out with her hand with all her might. Maybe, just maybe she could save the locket that contained all her hopes and dreams and hold it tight.

Then the locket shattered on the ground.


End file.
